Mr. Speaker, in 1970 Prime Minister Trudeau spoke to the nation to address the FLQ crisis. In 1990 Prime Minister Mulroney spoke to the nation to announce the failure of the Meech Lake accord. In 1995 Prime Minister Chrétien spoke to the nation in advance of the Quebec referendum. Yesterday the Prime Minister spoke to the nation to save his career.
In a desperate and diversionary ruse to buy his moribund government more time, the Prime Minister promised an election, but only in 10 months. Why do we not first take a look at what he has done in the last 10 months: no meaningful tax cuts, no democratic reform, no dealing with the fiscal imbalance.
The Prime Minister has become an expert at making promises, but keeping them is a whole different matter. The Prime Minister has dithered so often that he does not ever actually get anything done. We must judge our politicians not on what they say, but on what they have done. The Prime Minister has shown that the only thing he does is break promises.